QV Investors Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS)

QV Investors Inc. lifted its stake in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,074,643 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 60,380 shares during the quarter. Fortis accounts for approximately 4.6% of QV Investors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. QV Investors Inc.’s holdings in Fortis were worth $44,631,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its position in Fortis by 26.9% in the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 9,071,484 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $352,336,000 after acquiring an additional 1,920,728 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of Fortis by 21.8% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 5,190,336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $235,839,000 after purchasing an additional 930,331 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in Fortis by 31.4% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,142,695 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $83,259,000 after buying an additional 512,103 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Fortis by 15.7% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,747,036 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $170,230,000 after buying an additional 507,068 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Europe London LLP increased its position in Fortis by 413.6% during the third quarter. Point72 Europe London LLP now owns 395,474 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $17,973,000 after acquiring an additional 318,474 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Raymond James lowered Fortis from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Fortis in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They issued an “underperform” rating on the stock.

Fortis Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of Fortis stock traded down $0.19 during trading on Monday, hitting $40.60. 212,563 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 347,753. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Fortis Inc. has a 52-week low of $36.86 and a 52-week high of $46.06. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.06. The firm has a market cap of $20.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.50.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.01 billion. Fortis had a net margin of 14.06% and a return on equity of 7.01%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Fortis Inc. will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.4382 per share. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Fortis’s payout ratio is currently 71.43%.

About Fortis

Fortis Inc operates as an electric and gas utility company in Canada, the United States, and the Caribbean countries. It generates, transmits, and distributes electricity to approximately 447,000 retail customers in southeastern Arizona; and 103,000 retail customers in Arizona's Mohave and Santa Cruz counties with an aggregate capacity of 3,408 megawatts (MW), including 68 MW of solar capacity and 250 MV of wind capacity.